Secrets
by astral symphony
Summary: ONESHOT   "Boys like Black did not cry. If they were upset or angry or frustrated, all they had to do was scream a bit or brood – but they never, under any circumstances, cried." Lily & Sirius form a friendship.


**author's note: **another one-shot! I'm doing this project in a class where we have to form a habit over twenty-one days. I chose to write for twenty-one consecutive days. It just so happens that... I am two-for-two of writing fanfiction. I can't promise it will ALWAYS be fanfiction. But. I will be a good deal more active, at any rate. Read & Review if you so chose!

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><p>He was crying.<p>

He wasn't shouting, or throwing things, or grunting primitively. Crying.

She stood at a distance, biting down on her lower lip, eyebrows furrowed. Hesitant.

Because Sirius Black did not cry. It was an unwritten rule, a fact, a truth universally acknowledged. Boys like Black did not cry. If they were upset or angry or frustrated, all they had to do was scream a bit or brood – but they never, under any circumstances, _cried_. At least, that's what she thought.

Lily Evans stood at the threshold of the otherwise empty Common Room. It was dark, save for the dying fire in the corner. It crackled weakly, seemingly as uncertain as she herself felt in the moment. She was positive, however, that he was unaware of her presence. He didn't shift when she entered the room, but instead continued to lean into his hands, bent over his knees as he sat at the edge of the farthest couch.

She wished he would turn around; she would feel far less intrusive.

What was one supposed to do upon discovering your boyfriend's best mate crying?

She very well couldn't _leave_. She would then be known as the girl who left Sirius Black to his own devices when he clearly needed – something. Lily didn't know what. Therein lay the first issue. For then, upon making her appearance known, what then? Did she hug him? Awkwardly pat his back? Perhaps he needed a shoulder to cry on, or someone to tell him to man up?

Before she could make her decision, she sneezed – not once, not twice, but three times.

Perhaps she was allergic to crying boys.

Sirius straightened automatically, turning his body towards the direction of the noise. For a moment, they just stared at one another – he, expressionless; she, deer-in-headlights. She felt embarrassed, as if she had walked in on something unmentionable. She was grateful for the low lighting, as it hid her flushed cheeks marvelously.

"Sorry," she said. Her voice sounded foreign to her ears, having been used to the previous silence.

"S'okay," he muttered, turning away from her and slinging an arm over the back of the couch.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She instantly regretted the words – they sounded like she was addressing a seven-year-old.

"Not particularly," he said, voice trailing off.

Lily couldn't help but smile. She could hear the plea in his voice, the desire for someone to talk to – even if he didn't know it. Without thinking any further, she approached the couch and plopped down beside him, in a rather unceremonious fashion. Sirius threw her a skeptical look. She patted his shoulder in what she hoped was an encouraging manner.

"Evans," he warned.

"Black," she challenged, raising an eyebrow at him. At any rate, she noticed, the tears had ceased. His eyes were still puffy and bloodshot, though, and he had the flushed complexion of one who had been crying for a while.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I'm just sitting."

He looked at her, unconvinced. "Like hell you are."

"No, really, look at me. Sitting. That's all."

"You always have an ulterior motive."

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. "Says who?"

"Let's just say, I've heard some things."

"_Black_," she drawled, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Birds may vow to never kiss and tell, but blokes are less adherent to that rule." He smirked.

She scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring her best glare. "I take it back: _talk_."

The smirk faded. "No."

She sighed, letting her arms fall into her lap as she looked at him softly. "You don't have to talk to me, but I'm going to talk to you."

"Great," he deadpanned. Lily ignored him.

"I am dating your best friend," she said matter-of-factly. "I have a moral obligation. Trust me, Black, this is the last thing I want to be doing right now." He let out a laugh, and she smiled. "Good, we're making progress." She met his eye and sighed. "I don't know what the problem is, but I want you to know that you _can _talk about it. Before now, I would have thought that you were a daft, emotionless prankster –"

"Oi, Evans!"

"— but, I suppose you are a bit more than that. You crack, too. And it's all right – that's my point. Because even if you crack, you've got three of the best friends imaginable to piece you back together. And you've got me, too. Not just because I'm dating James, but because I care about you."

Sirius adverted his eyes from hers, staring now at an undeterminable spot in front of him. Tentative, she threw an arm around his shoulders and enclosed him in a strange sort of half-hug. He tensed and straightened; she laughed, giving his shoulder another pat before releasing him. She stood up and, giving him one last smile, started towards the girl's dormitory.

"Regulus got the mark today." She turned around, looking at him quizzically. He wasn't looking at her, but she knew he was speaking to her. "The Dark Mark. My own brother. Not even my blasted parents have gone that far. We've never gotten along, sure, and we've always believed in different things – but I didn't ever think it would come to this. He's lost. I've lost him."

Lily was immobile where she stood, a crease lining her forehead as she stared at the back of his head, frowning. There it was, plain and simple: he lay his fears on a platter for her. He couldn't take them back; she wondered if he knew this. They shared a secret, now – even if he already told James and Remus and Peter. He confided in her.

"Thank you," she said. He turned to look at her and shrugged simply with a tilt of the head, as if it were nothing. She smiled, reveling in the silence for a moment. "Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I love James."

And with that, a true friendship began. She ascended the girl's staircase and went to bed that night knowing that they both shared a secret neither of them would share.


End file.
